


o lei o lai o lord

by nerdiests



Series: Linked Universe Weekly Prompts [5]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), also legend dances again, check the notes for links, for the LU weekly prompt, more twi playing violin but that's not the main focus, music references, sky and warriors centric - sort of?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 07:53:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20524547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdiests/pseuds/nerdiests
Summary: music always makes a night better





	o lei o lai o lord

**Author's Note:**

> alright, so i wrote all of this today, edited it today, and i would like to thank the song that's explicitly referenced in this fic for getting me through writing this. also i would like to thank eli for reading over this for me and leg for just being wonderful

The day was winding down at this point. The sun was starting to set below the treeline of the clearing they’d taken refuge in. Dinner had been made and eaten, and the group was all settling in for a rest. Four was polishing his sword, Wild was scrolling through something on his Sheikah Slate, Warriors was messing with a few flowers, Hyrule was reading something, Legend was looking through his pack for something or rather, Wind was smiling as he read over a letter, Twilight was reading a book, and Time appeared to be asleep. Sky was content for the moment, just looking up at the clouds as the colors of the sky started to shift from blue to pink and yellow and orange. But his hands itched to do something - he’d been walking the whole day and he just wanted to do something with his hands. Maybe… 

With the slightest of smiles on his face, Sky rummaged about in his bag for a bit before coming across the exact thing he’d been looking for - his harp. He spotted Legend raising an eyebrow at him from across camp as he sat back down with harp in hand, but Sky just shrugged it off. He wanted to hear harp music, and that’d let him do something with his hands. 

There were a few noises of slight surprise as quiet harp song started up, but the harp persisted as people continued to go about settling down for the night. It was nice background music to have, in Sky’s mind. The music was quiet, but it had a way of filling the clearing they sat in. And the rest of the group had come to the same conclusion, and the way that Warriors was humming along was definitely a confirmation of that. He spotted Wind’s head moving to the beat, and one of Legend’s fingers tapping. Sky wasn’t playing anything in particular, but there was something he could play. Not something that they’d all recognize, but it was something Sky could play either way. 

Chords started to ring throughout the clearing, and Sky let his eyes drift shut as his hands moved through the motions of the harp he’d learned years prior. His Zelda had taught him this song when they were both younger. In simpler times. This piece was one of the first songs he had learned to play, if not the first itself. And Sky knew that by far, this piece was one of the best he could play. 

Sky’s eyes drifted back open when he heard humming again - from Warriors. Who else would be humming along? To Sky’s surprise, though, it wasn’t Warriors humming along. It was Twilight, who was still reading his book, but he hummed along with a slightly modified tune. If Warriors wasn’t humming, then what was he doing? Sky glanced over, and was even more surprised to see Warriors mouthing along words to the song. There weren’t words to this - Sky would know if there were words to this piece, he’d known it for years. In his surprise, he stumbled over a note - which he shouldn’t’ve done, he knew this piece in and out - and Twilight’s humming stopped. Everyone turned to look over at Sky, who’s stumble had made what should’ve been a satisfying conclusion for a progression into a discordant ending. 

“Did something happen, Sky?” Wind asked, sounding concerned. Sky blinked a few times, before looking over at Warriors. 

“You were mouthing words to the song I was playing,” Sky said. There was a nod from Warriors as he set down the flowers he’d arranged into a braided bouquet of sorts. 

“Yeah, because there are words to the song and I know them,” Warriors replied, passing the braided flowers over to Hyrule, who smiled at the spontaneous gift. 

“There… There’s never been words to that song in my memory,” Sky said, setting his harp down next to him. Warriors paused at that. 

“That song has had words for as long as I can remember. My mother used to sing that song around the house a lot, and whenever a bard passed through our town, that would be a popular piece to perform,” Warriors said, his brow furrowing slightly. 

“I know that song as well, the children always asked me to play it for them back in Ordon,” Twilight chipped in, putting a bookmark at the page he was reading and gently putting it up in his bag. 

“But I’ve never heard words for it, or a violin ever playing this song,” Sky said. There was a quiet moment, as the three of them thought for a moment. Warriors’ hand was on his chin, Twilight’s brow was furrowed, and Sky was just looking down at his harp, befuddled. 

“...How would you like to hear the words, Sky?” Warriors asked after a minute or two had passed, snapping Sky out of his thoughts. There was a silence in the clearing at this point, and Sky just knew that everyone was watching this interaction carefully. 

“...Is there anything in particular that I need to play or just play what I’ve been playing?” Sky asked. In his periphery, Sky noticed Wind perk up, but his main focus was on Warriors and how he lit up. 

“From what I could hear you playing, just do exactly what you were doing but a bit faster - Twilight, you said you knew the violin part for it?” Warriors asked, turning from Sky to Twilight.

“You don’t even need to ask,” Twilight replied, reaching into his own bag to pull out his violin. Sky started to fiddle around with his harp again, Twilight started making sure his violin was in tune, and Warriors hummed a few warm ups. The rest of the group watched on with interest. Sky noticed Wind and Hyrule both visibly vibrating. Although Sky was more focused on making sure that his harp was in good shape to play something faster, since he’d been playing it at a slower pace. Not only had Sky noticed that Warriors was mouthing words at a faster pace, but he was asked to play faster. So making sure he could move faster was a necessity. 

“You two ready?” Warriors asked as Sky set his harp in his lap and Twilight stood up with his violin at the ready, bow poised over the strings. With nods from both Sky and Twilight, Warriors stood up, but not before glancing subtly over at Legend. 

“If you haven’t heard this song before, the tune is fairly suitable to dance to,” Warriors said, directing both Twilight and Sky’s gazes towards the lone dancer of their group.

“Is this what peer pressure feels like?” Legend asked, reaching into his bag to presumably retrieve his dancing shoes. Warriors was grinning almost maniacally, and Sky could feel a smile on his face. It was nice, he thought, to have times like this. Where they could relax and have music. Speaking of…

“What tempo are we going at?” Legend asked, looking between Warriors and Sky. Sky looked over at Warriors for the answer, since he wasn’t really sure. The one who knew the version of the song would know the tempo, or at least that’s what Sky thought. 

“Folk song fast - possibly about as fast as the music Twilight was playing when you danced for us last,” Warriors replied, and Legend whistled.

“Damn, you sure you’ll be able to keep up with that, pretty boy?” Legend asked, raising one eyebrow in curiosity. 

“Watch and you’ll see,” Warriors replied evenly, before looking back over at Sky. 

“If you don’t mind, Sky?” Warriors asked. Sky nodded at that, glancing over at the rest of the group before letting his fingers drift over the harp’s strings. The music was quiet, but most harp music was. But when Warriors came in and started singing after the second repetition of the chorus… Sky could definitely say he wasn’t expecting it.

“There will come a soldier, who carries a mighty sword,” Warriors sang. His voice was crisp, and clear, and this isn’t what they had heard when Warriors had sung last. And oh, that verse seemed like all of them, the heroes. 

“He will tear your city down, o lei, o lai, o lord.”  _ Never mind about the heroes comment. _

“O lei, o lai, o lei, o lord. He will tear your city down, o lei, o lai, o lord.” Twilight had joined in on the words at that point, and Legend seemed to have gotten a grip on the beat of the song. Legend started swaying and the swaying turned to dance as the small interval without words ended and the next verse began. 

“There will come a poet, whose weapon is his word,” Warriors sang, and Sky could hear whistling. Someone was whistling as he played and Warriors sang and Legend danced. With a quick glance, Sky confirmed it was Four - who else could whistle with that perfect pitch?

“He will slay you with his tongue, o lei, o lai, o lord.” The words kept the beat, Sky found. He didn’t have to endlessly repeat with danger of going through a part he’d already done, with the separation that the verses allowed for. 

“O lei, o lai, o lei, o lord. He will tear your city down, o lei, o lai, o lord,” Twilight joined Warriors in the verse again, before starting in on some violin. Legend’s dance became the forefront of the piece, and Four kept up with his whistling that didn’t fit with the words but fit into the whole of the song nonetheless. And as the words started up again, the violin died out but the whistling persisted. 

“There will come a ruler, whose brow is laid in thorn,” Warriors and Twilight both sang this bit, though one sounded a fair bit better than the other. 

“Smeared with oil like David’s boy, o lei, o lai o lord.” This was Warriors alone, as Twilight dropped out for that bit of the verse. Sky noted that Wind was moving his hands about a bit, as if he were conducting an orchestra. Hm…

“O lei, o lai, o lei, o lord. Smeared with oil like David’s boy, o lei, o lai, o lord,” Twilight joined Warriors again, and the whistling grew louder. Legend’s dance grew a bit more intense as the whistling did, yet there wasn’t a gap in the words. 

“O lei, o lai, o lei, o lord. He will tear your city down, o lei, o lai…” There was a pause, and even Sky stopped momentarily, getting the silent cue. The whistles were gone, and Legend had froze mid movement. For half a second, the clearing was filled with silence.

And then it came back. 

“Oh,” the note went up, and Sky picked up the harp song again. The whistling picked back up with the harp, and Legend started to move yet again. Twilight plucked out some quick pizzicato on his violin, and Warriors started to sway in his place. 

“O lei, o lai, o lei, o lai, o.” Everyone in the group sang this bit - Legend’s dance grew less intense as he sang along with both Twilight and Warriors, and Sky hummed the tune to the words as he kept up with his harp. The violin started up again, and Legend jumped up and spun. The vocals came back again right as Legend completed a second spin after a short sequence. 

“O lei, o lai, o lei, o lai, o.” With the second repetition, Sky joined in on the words, drawing Warriors and Twilight’s surprise. What? He was allowed to sing! And he’d caught the gist at this point, it’d be a shame if they didn’t have an extra voice to add in. And as Twilight went off on the repetition of the violin part, Sky let a bit of flair sneak into his harp. He wanted it to sound good, dagnabbit!

“O lei, o lai, o lei, o lai, o lei, o lai, o lei, o lai, o!” Warriors’ pitch gradually got higher, ending on a high crisp note, and everyone else’s voices chorusing in - the one that shocked Sky the most was Time, humming along - supported that high crisp note. It was wonderful, and Sky loved how the different parts came together. And as the last few notes rang throughout the clearing, Sky looked up at Warriors to see a happy grin on his face, one of true glee. 

“...The words were a lot catchier than I thought,” Sky said, breaking the silence that had persisted in the ending of the piece. With the magic broken, the clapping started. First Hyrule, then Wind, then the others that hadn’t participated in some way - and those that had. 

“That improvisation on the harp was wonderfully done, Sky,” Twilight said, and Sky smiled bashfully. 

“Well… I just thought that a bit of flair might help a bit,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

“Your violin was amazing, though! And Legend, the dancing was wonderful, and Four I loved the whistling. And Warriors - you really brought the story of the song to life!” Sky turned to each of the people he mentioned as they were mentioned, and the grin he had was apparently infectious, because the rest of them started to as well. Warriors looked uncharacteristically bashful, though. 

“It… It wasn’t much, really. Just how I learned how to sing it from my mother. It’s a pretty popular lute piece back in my hyrule,” Warriors said, glancing away from the rest of the group and… Was that a hint of red on his face? Sky wasn’t going to mention it. 

“Are you  _ embarrassed _ , Warriors?” Legend teased. Oh, and there was someone mentioning it. 

“No!” Warriors replied, voice squeaking a bit and. Wow Sky hadn’t thought that was something possible. 

“You  _ are _ ,” Twilight said, sounding slightly surprised. Warriors’ face went slightly redder. 

“So you can take a million compliments from pretty girls yet one compliment from a friend is what flusters you?” Legend said, and there he was with that teasing tone again. 

“Pretty people just give me platitudes, that was sincere! That’s what’s flustering about it!” Warriors replied, as laughter started up among the group. Warriors, the flirt, unable to take a sincere compliment? Bonkers. 

“It’s not funny!” Warriors said, voice higher than normal, and the laughter only increased. If this was going to cause fun things like this, Sky would have to bring his harp out spontaneously more often. 

**Author's Note:**

> hi i'm rhi and welcome to my [tumblr](http://nerdiests.tumblr.com)  
also here's the link to the song i was watching:  
[the actual inspiration](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kq0q2VSgrI)   
[the song as i listened to it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzVKsltzYdI)


End file.
